As is well known, the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup produced two heroes, goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and his closest colleague, Cheat Sheet. Goalkeeping coach Andreas Köpke then conveyed the penalty kick preferences of the Argentine national players. Lehmann took the piece of paper out from under his socks every time before an Argentinian started; He saved two of four shots and led the German national team to the semi-finals.
More than 17 years later, Konstantin Heide didn’t have to share the stage with a cheat sheet when a German team again had to play a penalty shootout at a World Cup against Argentina. The Germany U17 goalkeeper didn’t need any help, but like Lehmann, he still saved two of four penalties and secured his team’s place in the final of the U17 World Cup.
The two goalkeepers are not only united by their rescue efforts against an Argentinian team, they both know life as number two. Lehmann was made Germany’s number one by national coach Jürgen Klinsmann before the tournament in 2006 and then pushed them into the semi-finals. Heide, in turn, was now only the representative of the sick goalkeeper Max Schmitt.
Schmitt, U19 keeper at FC Bayern, guarded the goal in the first two knockout games at the World Cup in Indonesia. In the round of 16, the team prevailed 3-2 against the USA thanks to “individual class,” as U17 head coach Christian Wück himself described it; His selection won the quarter-finals 1-0 in an “absolute defensive battle” against Spain. Goalkeeper Schmitt had shone against the Iberians; Now Heide surpassed himself against the Argentinians.
Claudio Echeverri, known as “El Diablito” (the little devil), was assumed to be the main actor in this semi-final. The Argentine offensive player is already being compared to Lionel Messi and caused great danger against the German selection after ten seconds: Finn Jeltsch wanted to knock the ball away, Echeverri intervened and stormed towards the German goal. His attempt to get past Heide ended in the side netting.
The DFB team scored the opening goal after nine minutes: Captain Noah Darvich carried the ball from midfield to Paris Brunner, who scored from a tight angle. But the Argentinians presented themselves, as Wück had already suspected, “at a similar level to the Spaniards.” The South Americans pressed the German team – but goalkeeper Heide prevented Gustavo Albarracín from hitting the goal in the 22nd minute with a fantastic reflex.
Argentina equalized in the seventh minute of added time
Heide was powerless against Agustín Fabian Ruberto, like Echeverri, who started the semi-finals with five tournament goals and was therefore the top scorer list. Almost a quarter of an hour later, Heide was powerless. And just before the half-time whistle, Ruberto gave the Germans no chance and put them 2-1 behind: his powerful shot hit under the crossbar.
His team “slept through” the first half, Wück said on Sky after the end of the game. In the second half, his players defended “more courageously and aggressively,” he said, which is why he was “proud.” But Argentina’s game was by no means free of errors: Paris Brunner scored with a flick after a failed shot by goalkeeper Jeremías Florentín (58′) to make it 2-2, Max Moerstedt headed it in after a poor clearance attempt by Juan Villalba to make it 3-2 (69′). ).
However, the Argentinians proved to be just as immune to doubts after going behind as the German team. Konstantin Heide had to defuse dangerous shots several times in the final phase. He increasingly seemed insurmountable. But in the seventh minute of injury time it was Ruberto again who sent the ball into the goal with a twist. His eighth goal of the tournament.
In the penalty shootout, the Argentines despaired again of Heide, whose teammate Paris Brunner converted the decisive attempt. Fayssal Harchaoui, Robert Ramsak and Eric da Silva Moreira had previously scored for the German U17s. In the final next Saturday (1 p.m., on Sky and fifa.com), the opponent is France, who defeated Mali 2-1 in the other semi-final. After the European Championship triumph in the summer, Wück and his team have a chance of winning the next title – it would be the first success for Germany at a U17 World Cup.
